4/20/06

JERUSALEM - He never got an invitation and he certainly didn't R.S.V.P., but that didn't stop Will Smith from crashing Atir Cohen's bar mitzvah at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

Cohen, 13, was deep into his Torah reading Thursday when he heard shouting and saw girls pushing against the barrier separating men from women at the holy site to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood superstar.

American film actor Will Smith with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and the Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, next to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday April 20, 2006. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

4/10/06

PM Olmert is quite pessimistic about negotiating with Hamas as he spells out in an interview with TIME.com:

TIME: Would you consider going back to negotiations rather than continue with the unilateral strategy? Do you see any prospect for negotiations with Hamas if they moderate their rhetoric?

Olmert: They can't just change their rhetoric. They need to change their entire way of life, they need to change entirely their state of mind about Israel's existence. It's so much deeper than rhetoric. To just believe that if Ismail Haniyeh tomorrow starts using different words, that will make the difference? No way. This is a typical fundamentalist, extremist religious movement that does not think in political terms the way we're accustomed to. Therefore I'm not very optimistic they can change overnight. They can change their rhetoric but they can't change substance.Their inability to accept the existence of two states and their total dedication to an Islamic religious fundamentalist state all across the Middle East to Africa to Asia is still their most dominant driving force. Don't get it wrong, some of them are very sophisticated, well educated people. But they have a different concept of life.

I agree 100%. Hamas promotes a total culture of violence. There is no reason to talk with them.

4/9/06

North Jersey Bergen Record has a nice feature today -- a kind of stream of consciousness report on all things Jewish that are also hip.

It's at the clothing store: Cleverly designed T-shirts declare 'Moses is my homeboy' or ask 'Who's your rabbi?' Even the trendy clothier Urban Outfitters has gotten into the act with its 'Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl' tees.

And it's at the record store -- beyond Matisyahu, that is: the Jewish-oriented, New York-based label JDub Records, which put Matisyahu on the map, has a roster that includes the LeeVees, the band behind last year's 'Hanukkah Rocks' album.

Of course the reporter makes the basic mistake of confusing "Jewish" and "Judaic" -- he probably never took Jewish Studies in college.

Bruce Chilton of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College presents there a balanced and highly readable explanation of why the NG hype and sensationalism distorts the evidence of this ancient document. He points out how the folks at NG did not consult experts on ancient writing, and how they appear to be deliberately misleading the public.

It tells us, "The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Unlike the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor, this newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus' request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities."

I can attest that this presentation is quite expensive. Hence the NG likely expects to make a tidy sum on their investment. Bottom line: the profit motive infiltrated into scholarship here and apparently polluted the environment.

Yes, It's Anti-Semitic: "Inept, even kooky academic work, then, but is it anti-Semitic? If by anti-Semitism one means obsessive and irrationally hostile beliefs about Jews; if one accuses them of disloyalty, subversion or treachery, of having occult powers and of participating in secret combinations that manipulate institutions and governments; if one systematically selects everything unfair, ugly or wrong about Jews as individuals or a group and equally systematically suppresses any exculpatory information -- why, yes, this paper is anti-Semitic."

4/4/06

The Harvard Crimson :: Dean Attacks �Israel Lobby�: In an attack on what they termed the �Israel Lobby,� the Kennedy School�s Stephen M. Walt and the University of Chicago�s John J. Mearsheimer argued in a recent article that supporters of Israel have seized control of U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, making it reflect Israel�s interests more than those of the U.S.

The charge of a malevolent organized Jewish conspiracy is the most blatant form of anti-Semitism. In this 21st century, I find it insufficient that the Kennedy School of Government removed its logo from a the scurrilous paper published last week by Academic Dean Stephen M. Walt and the University of Chicago�s John J. Mearsheimer.

I find it insufficient that the most prominent educational institution in the world added a more prominent disclaimer stating that the classic racist views expressed in that work belong only to the authors.

I call on Harvard -- take that paper off your server and issue an apology to all persons of learning and conscience.